Professional Documents
Culture Documents
9 Idols of the Soul (and Other Lessons From Jesus)—May 21–27 111
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“ ‘No question about it,’ ” Rick typed out. “ ‘My dad is the “Father of the Century. ’ ”
We’ve got a lot in common with Rick Hoyt because we have a Father who, even more
than Dick Hoyt loves Rick, loves us, cares for us, and was willing to sacrifice His only
Son for us.
Like Rick, the tragedy and debilitating effects of sin have paralyzed us all. By our own
strength, the life we live isn’t anywhere close to the life we
were meant to live. As hard as we might try, we will never Matthew focuses
improve ourselves enough to be saved. “Our condition
through sin is unnatural, and the power that restores us
strongly on the fact
must be supernatural, else it has no value.”—Ellen G. that Jesus is the
White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 428. We must Promised Messiah.
be saved from outside ourselves because it should be . . . Although his au-
obvious by now that we cannot save ourselves.
dience was primarily
It was for this reason that people, at times, have
looked up into the night sky for help outside of Jewish, his message
themselves: a Deliverer. Our spiritual ancestors, the of hope and Redemp-
Israelites, had a name for this hoped-for Deliverer: the tion speaks to us.
Son of David, whom we know as Jesus of Nazareth.
And an inspired version of Jesus’ story is given in
the Gospel of Matthew, our topic for this quarter. Matthew, a Jewish believer in
Jesus, and one of the original disciples of Jesus, recounts the story of Jesus from his
own Spirit-inspired perspective. Though in common with Mark, Luke, and John,
Matthew’s theme is the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.
Matthew focuses strongly on the fact that Jesus is the promised Messiah. He wanted
his readers to know that the redemption of Israel was to be found in Jesus, the One
of whom the prophets spoke and to whom all the Old Testament types pointed.
Although his audience was primarily Jewish, his message of hope and Redemption
speaks to us, as well; a people who, like Rick Hoyt, need Someone to do for us what
we never can do for ourselves.
And Matthew tells the story of Him, Jesus, doing just that.
Andy Nash, PhD, is a professor and pastor at Southern Adventist University, in Collegedale,
Tennessee. He is the author of several books, including The Haystacks Church and The
Book of Matthew: “Save Us Now, Son of David.”
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How to Use
This Teachers Edition
Get Motivated to Explore, Apply, and Create
We hope that this format of the teachers edition will encourage adult Sabbath School
class members to do just that—explore, apply, and create. Each weekly teachers lesson takes
your class through the following learning process, based on the Natural Learning Cycle:
1. Why is this lesson important to me? (Motivate);
2. What do I need to know from God’s Word? (Explore);
3. How can I practice what I’ve learned from God’s Word? (Apply); and
4. What can I do with what I’ve learned from God’s Word? (Create).
And for teachers who haven’t had time to prepare during the week for class, there is a
one-page outline of easy-to-digest material in “The Lesson in Brief ” section.
Here’s a closer look at the four steps of the Natural Learning Cycle and suggestions for
how you, the teacher, can approach each one:
Step 1—Motivate: Link the learners’ experiences to the central concept of the
lesson to show why the lesson is relevant to their lives. Help them answer the question,
Why is this week’s lesson important to me?
Step 2—Explore: Present learners with the biblical information they need to
understand the central concept of the lesson. (Such information could include facts
about the people; the setting; cultural, historical, and/or geographical details; the plot
or what’s happening; and conflicts or tension of the texts you are studying.) Help learn-
ers answer the question, What do I need to know from God’s Word?
Step 3—Apply: Provide learners with opportunities to practice the information
given in Step 2. This is a crucial step; information alone is not enough to help a person
grow in Christ. Assist the learners in answering the question, How can I apply to my
life what I’ve learned?
Step 4—Create: Finally, encourage learners to be “doers of the word, and not
hearers only” (James 1:22). Invite them to make a life response to the lesson. This step
provides individuals and groups with opportunities for creative self-expression and
exploration. All such activities should help learners answer the question, With God’s
help, what can I do with what I’ve learned from this week’s lesson?
When teachers use material from each of these four steps, they will appeal to most
every student in their class: those who enjoy talking about what’s happening in their lives,
those who want more information about the texts being studied, those who want to know
how it all fits in with real life, and those who want to get out and apply what they’ve
learned.